The School of Personal Hygiene; Our Old Habit Must Not Die Out -By Alivionote I. Edwin

‘I love you’ does not necessarily imply the likeness for another. Sometimes for some and many times for others, the last person we remember to love is self. Love they say is better expressed by action since words is cheap or chicken as my folks will put it. The generational migration into new trends has meant that society continually evolve to reflect current vogue which does not exclude the negative trends that is associated with the change.

Many years down our educational history, our teachers taught the need for personal hygiene and our parents at home likewise reinforced the lessons by enforcement. These were times when our teachers came into the four walls of the classroom with the consciousness of raising models for society. Our parents too had a culture to protect their kids from the ignorance of self-care. Let’s now migrate from this introduction to the theme of focus, Personal hygiene.

So much have been written on personal hygiene and much more taught in schools, but, the practice in Nigeria has been on the decline with the advent of years. A situation where the prevailing trend has taught us to replace hygiene with outlooks is really a cause for concern. The misleading notion that, what we wear like clothes, perfume and other such accessories that come with clothing tells more of our hygiene is a craze that must be corrected to savage the true nature of personal healthiness.

The demands of Personal hygiene are simple but require much of personal discipline to keep and sustain. The need to be consistent with the practice of personal hygiene has made it rather too difficult for most persons to give their commitment. But after refreshing your minds with the ethics of good personal hygiene coupled with the problems and humiliation you have to contend with for lagging in them, the need to revert back to sustaining these habits will become obvious and acceptable.

The ethics of personal hygiene dictates (just like a military instruction) that we carryout personal hygienic exercise as prescribed and with the frequency required. Our health of course is the greatest asset that creates our wealth. I will bother my discuss on 10 of the personal hygiene as prescribed which include:

Bathing; medically, it has been recommended that we take our bath twice in a day especially because we live in the temperate part of the world. Bathing is hydrotherapy that cleans the body and refreshes us from the strain and stress that the body has/will received for the day. Proper bathing also requires that we wash all parts of the body thoroughly with soap and water aided by the bathing sponge. Proper bathing is used to subdue contaminations that attach itself to the body externally thus, more bath is recommended when one engage in exercise and other jobs that inflates perspiration and expose us to dirt. There are times when the body will demand a warm bath (at skin temperature) or cold bath which in any case is easy to predict since your body feels the need and sends you the urge which is relatively easy for you to detect.

Associated to non-compliance with this recommendation are skin irritation, skin infections, body odour as well as skin deterioration which involves odd pigment, poor functioning and ease of skin reaction.

Brushing; brushing is of course not restricted to the teeth as the hair needs brushing too. For the teeth, just like bathing it is required twice mornings and at night before bed time. The teeth as a set is a confidence booster and one of the most appreciated asset of the face. A good brushing for the teeth requires scrubbing the teeth, gum and tongue with a paste on a brush or the chewing stick as is popular with some of our folks. Mouth rinse adds to mouth-care especially after meals and some of our out-door chops, water can do the job if the formulated mouth rinse does not suite your pocket.

Brushing for the hair is recommended for both sexes after bath and at other occasions within the day especially for those who keep hair. Brushing reduce the particle attachment to the hair and pulverizes the hair for proper aeration which conditions it for proper outlook.

The mouth serves as entry point for food which comes in different temperatures and aroma. Once our body process the food in the stomach and absorbs the nutrients, the waste pass out through the exit vents for liquid solid waste in offensive whiff. Imagine if the mouth brings off waft that makes communication with others unbearable (bad mouth aura). The mouth can suffer other challenges owing to poor care for the teeth which starts with proper brushing coupled with eating at mouth friendly temperatures and calcium enriched dieting.

Also, lack of/poor brushing for the hair will expose the hair to germs and make it a hide-out for small organisms which in combination will blur your hair looks and make the hair irritating to both the owner and onlookers.

Breathing; when it comes to the air we breathe we cannot afford to treat it with levity. The need to ensure proper ventilation in our homes and immediate environment (be it vehicular transit) is paramount to our health. We are to ensure that cross ventilation is always encouraged and always watch out for the quality of the air we breathe, since it’s dire to breath-in bad air amounting to suffocation and possibly death.

Though, we often do not notice how our body react to poor aeration, we suffer long term consequences of this neglect. Among the possible effect are cough, catarrh, poor circulation and others that medical doctors will be in the best position to mention with authority.

Watering; the body’s need for water is awesome as the body is made of 70% water. The need for water just like air is continuous and the demand requires variation in quantity based on body needs and environmental considerations. Starting up your day with a glass of water and ending with same is one healthy practice that conditions the body for proper functioning, and adjusts it to maintain its various internal reactions.

When we do not give our body proper watering it leads to associated complications of dehydration and makes our body react poorly to food and medications. Constipation, stomach acidity, kidney issues and abnormal body waste regulation are some of the issue to contend with under this scenario.

Washing; some parts of the body are tools we use constantly for all sorts of our daily or regular operations. The hands and legs dominate the frequently used parts and thus require consistent washing after use and before use in the case of hands for handling sensitive items as food. To reduce the degree of exposing our foods and bodies to germs attack and disease infections our habit of washing the hands before and after meals, use of convenience and menial works/chores should be built in our sub-consciousness. Washing can also surpass the wash of hands and feet to washing our face and hair as often as we expose them to dirt from dusty environment and pre-occupations.

Taking washing for granted will open up with ease the passage door for foreign elements to gain access to our mouths, nose, ears and eyes leading to health compromise. Contaminations/infections will in turn lead to other complications that will worsen in degree with time.

Shaving; shaving is a word that is too often associated with the males as the females don’t see a need for shaving. But, aside the male moustache and jaw that needs shaving, the armpit and pubic area requires this maintenance too. Some hairy people also might have a need to shave their legs and arms to restore their dignity of semblance with the family of gorillas (on a lighter mood though). Shaving should be done with new shaving sticks to avert the complications associated with blunt and old shave-sticks. Shave should be done regularly without distorting the routine as this may cause the emergence of rashes and radical hair growth.

For anyone who does not see a need for shaving in its entirety or fails to make a habit of it, aside the physical loss of cuteness the associated discomfort does not amount to making your confidence stick. Other health implication also subsists as a result.

Trimming; what is it in the body that needs trimming, the nails and hair for the males does. But in this section I will focus on the nails. The nails occur at the tip of our fingers and found on our hands and feet. The use of personal manicure/pedicure tool kit to keep the nails in our hands and feet on check is a good practice. For those who can afford the professional manicure/pedicure it is also advised that you give your discretion to the manicure since the hands have varied use and application. The nails need trimming, polishing and cleaning as the tool kit is designed to support or the “cure-specialists”.

Trimming is meant to protect the body from the hazards of long unkept nails. The nails can provide a safe haven for germs to hide which can be easily transferred to food and water.

Eating; we are gradually and subliminally deviating from balance dieting, most persons heap the blame for this on economy and others don’t just have the luxury of time required to make or access a balanced diet. Eating of food must be right if not the essence of food nourishing the body will not be achieved. I recommend the use of menu schedule in our homes to make for balance in family nutrition. We are not only what we wear, we are what we eat. Menu schedule can be done for weekly, monthly or yearly food consumption in the house. This schedule is also supplemented by the additional items of consumption we take outside which should have the schedule consideration in mind. For one to successfully draft a good menu schedule there is need to consult write ups on balanced diet with reference to the six (6) classes of food.

For want of concise piece I will summarily say that the prevalence of disease and infection in our part of the world has more to do with poor culture of planning our meals and bad feeding habits. The adherence to good feeding culture is a booster to healthy living and promotes our physique. Good food is the best medication that one can subscribe and eating more from fresh and natural sources is key.

Checking; although the high cost of medi-care in the country is excusable for our attitude to health care, we should outlive this excuse for our sake. It is proper to do a complete health check ones in a year. The need to check the eyes, ear, our stool and urine, our heart, liver and kidney helps us to live proactively. The usual practice of awaiting a knock down or near death experience to force us into checking our status is not the prime practice when compared with countries that have succeeded in reducing their mortality resulting from health related grounds.

Our ‘e-no-concern-me’ attitude towards medical check-up has landed many persons in medical conditions that were rather too late to avert. The medical associations in the country have a task of encouraging you and I the access to check up routine that is convenient, easy and affordable.

Exercising; Exercise is an activity that builds the body in virtually all aspects such that the body becomes well poised to meet its requirement and spare up ability to bear emergencies and other strains that might arise. Exercise exerts so much impact on the body since it demands the engagement of almost all the body systems and organs to execute. An excerpt from Microsoft Encarta reads ‘ Clinical and epidemiological studies have demonstrated that regular aerobic exercise reduces the risk of death due to heart disease and stroke, aids in reducing weight, helps prevent diabetes mellitus, strengthens bones, and enhances immune function. The psychological benefits are also broad, and most studies suggest a positive relationship between physical fitness and mental achievement’.

Personal Hygiene starts with knowing the rudiments of what constitute hygienic personal practices and then having the firm resolution to adopt them into our lifestyle with the intention to groom it into a habit, making a culture out of it. We all are under obligation by law to pay our taxes so that our country’ government can sustain the development of the nation. In the same vein, we owe our body the duty to devote our time, energy, money and resources to keeping the body in a good state where it can function optimally for the individual maximization and societal benefit.

We often cry that death took someone who was very beneficial in service to society. We also lament that disease condition has denatured/distort someone routine as well as life. We have the capacity to amend the frequency of these cases and improve on our existence with non-other than support for the adoption and practice of personal hygiene by all.

The school of personal hygiene teaches just one lesson; take care of your personal health with all sense of responsibility.

By Alivionote I. Edwin